Speech and Language Resource

The Resource is for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan, who require specialist –integrated support for their speech and language difficulties whilst following a mainstream curriculum.

The Resource is made up of two classes – Beech for KS1 pupils and Maple for KS2 pupils. The children spend the morning in the Resource and the afternoons in the main school. If appropriate, some children join their mainstream class for Maths or English each morning.

The Resource staff work as a team in conjunction with mainstream teachers, parents and outside agencies. Following entry, children are assessed by the teachers and Speech and Language Therapists. Individual Support and Achievement Plans (SAPs) are developed and shared with parents, pupils and school staff. They are updated regularly. Parent involvement is actively encouraged through a daily “Home/School” diary and coffee mornings.

Pupils return to their mainstream school when it is considered by all those involved that the small group setting is no longer necessary. They continue to have support following transfer, the level being dependent on individual needs.

Entry Criteria

The Speech and Language resource can cater for pupils who meet the following criteria:

Meet the LA’s statutory assessment criteria for Education, Health and Care Plans with a Primary Need of Speech and Language difficulties

Have a diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Have a level of ability within the range expected in a mainstream school

Demonstrate the ability to function within a mainstream educational setting with appropriate differentiation

Require intensive, specialist Speech and Language provision to achieve the outcomes identified within their EHC Plan

What is Developmental Language Disorder?

Speech, language and communication underpin everything we do – making our needs known, expressing our likes and dislikes, interacting with others and building relationships.

We often take these skills for granted, but many children struggle to communicate. They have speech, language and communication needs or SLCN.

A child with speech, language and communication needs:

Might have speech that is difficult to understand

They might struggle to say words or sentences

They may not understand words that are being used, or the instructions they hear

They may have difficulties knowing how to talk and listen to others in a conversation

Children may have just some or all of these difficulties; they are all very different. Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a term that is used to describe difficulties with learning and using language which will be long term, but that are not associated with other conditions, such as cerebral palsy, or autistic spectrum disorders.

There is no obvious reason for these difficulties, for example, there is no hearing problem or physical disability that explains them. This means, a child with DLD might be bright, but struggle to understand the language used in the classroom, or they may have lots of ideas but find it hard to make sentences to say what they are thinking, but they do not have any other condition that may be causing these problems.

DLD looks different in all children and can be complicated to understand because we don’t really know the cause. Studies have shown that in five year olds, DLD affects about two children in every classroom in primary school (about 7.6%) and that it is more common in boys than girls.